Gas producer



Patented Jan. 26, 1954 GAS! PRODUCER- Otto .Hubmann, Bad Homburg vor det H6eh'e',

Germany Applicationoctober-19,1950, S'erialN0."191',041

Claims,.priority, application Germanyv October 24, 1949 6 Claims; (01. 48-63) This invention relates toa gas producer. The known gas producer-'for'the gasification of solid fuels-is operated'with air, or with air enriched with oxygen, or with" oxygen plus additions of steam; and in" general has a-cylindrical gasification shafttwhich in'the regionof the gasification'zone is'provided with'a water jacket. The lower part-ofthe gasification shaft comprises a revolving grate servingfor feeding the gasification agent onto the fuel bed and for discharging the ash' from thegas producer. oftentimes a charging-device is fixedly or revolvingly mounted inthe upperpart of the gas producer, and centrally-therein, and supplied with the fuel-through a hopper arranged therea-bove,

also in a coaxial position. More particularly incase-1of a-revolving; arrangement of the fuelreceivingchamber orhopper the'same may also serve thepurpose-of feeding the fuel on to the border of the =fuel -bed:

At first this constructionwas also "retained for the gasification under considerable: pressures.- Difiiculties arose'in this case-from the la-rge 'total height-required -fo'rsuoh a device; thislarge total height in case of gasification under pressure causes a considerable -increase-of the cost of: the: required installations. Where the pro-- ducer isto lee-mounted:in:vehicles or crafts, more particularly, in locomotivespthis large total height formed.an unsurmountable handicap for the use of the gasific'ation under pressure in connectionwith' the: endeavors "of usinggas turbine aggregates; on; vehicles A! considerabletechnical difficulty moreover WaspreSentedby-the-fact thatrth'evgrate as. well asits support and drive was endangered .bythe 1 high temperatures and by. the attack-by oxygen in the lower part of the gas producer.

According to the present invention these dim-- culties are avoided by a tank or a reservoir for the fuel arranged .in; theupper part of :the gas producer, whichtank serves for -the distribution of the fuel to the real combustion zone-and-for accumulatinga certain reserve of fuel in the gas producer, and is connected with the grate by means ,of a water-cooled, advantageously centrally disposed column or shaft,- traversing the fuel layer;- Advantageously said*parts are mounted in a common bearing arrangement; with a sufficient distance. betweenzthe bearings; the, :lower; bearing disposed-tin. the zone-.of the grate, may be designed as .a pure guide bearing of ga simple constructiOmand :;without; lubrication; e, ,g., as. a ballor roller. bearing, said bear.-

:moreover being effectively; cooled by the water-cooledcolumn itse1f-:.lBy.a:;the invention, the further advantage is obtained that a comtank or its bottomand the grate, which" drive can be accommodated in the're'gion of thegaschamber without any additional requirement as to the total height, and contrary to the conven tional grate drive it is thus protected againstthe action of high temperatures and oxygen-con taining gases. In addition" to considerablesavings of constructional material-an important im'-" provement as to the reliability-of service F is achieved, even where the use of'highlyalloyed metals is reduced to an absolute minimum; The considerably reduced total height of the gas producer permits Without difficulties its accommodation' in crafts and even in locomotives which are greatly restricted in their height by th'e rail Way profile.

The fact that the'revolving tank-whose bottom is provided with'openings distributed in a suit able manner, is arranged above thefuel-bed, en?- sured a continuous, uniform feed of the fuel to' the gasification zone, even though "the speed of rotation of the tank ispositively boundtotha't of the grate and regulated exclusively according to the quantity of the ash" to be discharged.

In case of the gasific'ation of caking fuels, Where scraping and poking devices are required" for loosening the fuel bed;'scr'apers' or similardevices are advantageously"provided e. geon'th bottom of the revolving tank, which scrapers by the-rotation of'th'e bottom of the tank will effi-" caciously loosenthe surface of thefuel and pre'- vent the formation of caked lumps.- I

As is well known, in the gasificatio'n of fu'elof non-uniform grain-"size it is*very" advantageous to feed the fuel to the-borderof the gasification zone, whereby the known 'marginalorborder fire is efiiciently counteracted. The -marginal feeding according to the invention is' achieved 'in a simple manner by arranging thecoal-hopper by which the fuel isfedinto' the gas producer, at the border of the gas 'pr'odu'cenortheduelisfed to the gas producer ortothe tank from-the side in the same manner by means of: other suitable: conventional devices, e. g. by a feed worm'.-- The charge thu's is 'feds directly atzithe border and the rotary'motion ofithes container is .operative to: distribute the :fine-z :grain :atvithei bOIZdEfi-illl'llformly to the. whole periphery of the 'fuel bed or: layer; Thus,:-further considerablez'savings:inmass terial and total height. .of: ;the :aapparatusraret achieved.

Other and further objects;features"andtad vantages: of .the. invention: will. be pointedi'outf hereinafter and appear in the "appended-claims forming partof-theapplication.

Inethe: accompanying drawinga nowfpre'ferred- 3 embodiment of the invention is shown by way of illustration and not by way of limitation.

The apparatus illustrated by way of example is shown in an axial section. It is particularly suitable for the gasification of non-baking or semi-bituminous fuel, containing little or no dust, e. g., brown coal or lignite, pit coal, anthracite or coke, by means of air or gasification agents which are richer in oxygen and steam,"

under a pressure which depending on the use of the gas may be, e. g. 1 -30atmospheres absolute pressure.

The gas producer as shown comprises the gas producer casing I which in the region of the higher temperatures is provided with a water jacket 2. The lower part comprises the grate 3 while the upper part comprises the tank or reservoir 4, and the fuel bed or layer 5 acting as the gasification zone is disposed therebetween. A conventional coal hopper 6 serves for feeding the fuel into the gas producer. Disposed underneath the grate is a tank 7 serving in known manner for discharging the ash, lock-fashion. The coal hopper and the discharge tank are provided in known manner with double closures, e. g. with valve-like bells 20 and 2 I, only a part thereof being shown in the drawing. The grate 3 is fixedly connected with the tank 4 through a central column 8 which is mounted for rotation in the gas producer by means of two bearings 9 and Ill. The bearing 9 is secured to the bottom of the gas producer, e. g., by means of ribs H which, if desired, may "be water-cooled. The gas produced is discharged through a pipe 12. The revolving part is driven by means of an arrangement l3 of known construction provided on the tank, e. g., a toothed rim with gear. The cooling water is fed to the central column through a pipe 14; the heat can be led off through the pipe l5 either in the form of heated water or in the form of steam. The gasification agent is fed through the pipe I6 and enters into the fuel layer preferably through slots H arranged at the grate. Moreover, discharg members [8 of known type are arranged at the grate for feeding th ash to the ash collecting tank 1 by the rotary motion. The bottom of the fuel tank 4 is provided with openings l9, advantageously of a slot-shaped form, through which the fuel is charged to the gasification zone by the revolving motion. Moreover, scrapers 22 are provided on the underside of the bottom of the tank, which scrapers by their revolving motion prevent caking of the fuel on the surface of the fuel bed.

The operation is as follows:

After a combustion zone has been established in the lower part of the as producer, by piling up ash and inflammable fuels, such as wood, and igniting the same, the gas producer is charged with the fuel to be gasified, through the coal hopper 6, with slight motion of the grate, and a gasification zone is set up in the gas producer with increasing feed of e. g. air and steam. Then the pressure in the gas producer is increased to the required amount, by throttling the exhaust of gas, and, as soon as the normal working orderhas been approximately reached in the gasification zone, the output of the gas producer is increased in the intended manner, delivering gas to the consumers to be provided. In normal working order there is continuously drawn off so much ash as is produced by the gasification, by regulation of the drive l3 and of the closure device 20. Now, it is only necessary to charge periodically, through the coal hopper 6, so much 4 fuel that the charge in the tank 4 is maintained in the desired manner. The level of the charge can be ascertained in a very simple manner by operating the closure or valv 2|. The gasification process can be regulated in accordance with changes in the required output in known manner by changing the amount of gasification agent and the number of revolutions of the grate as well as by increasing or reducing the amount of fuel charged.

It will be appreciated that by the apparatus according to the present invention a considerable technical progress is achieved in the gasification of solid fuels, more particularly under pressure; the apparatus can be used on crafts and vehicles and the installation costs are considerably reduced.

While the invention has been described in detail with respect to a now preferred example and embodiment of the invention it will be understood by those skilled in the art after understanding the invention that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and it is intended, therefore, to cover all such changes and modifications in the appended claims.

What I claim is: V

1. A gas producer for the gasification of solid fuel, which comprises a vertical, cylindrical shaft furnace having a rotatable center shaft, a combustion zone for such fuel defined in said furnace with said rotatable center shaft, extending therethrough, a grate mounted for rotation with said shaft positioned at the lower end of the combustion zone, a fuel holding receptacle positioned within said furnace above said combustion zone with at least the bottom portion thereof connected to said shaft for rotation therewith, the bottom of said receptacle defining at least one opening therethrough in spaced relationship to the axis of said rotatable center shaft for the discharge of fuel, and means for rotating said shaft.

2. Gas producer according to claim 1, in which said means for rotating said shaft are means positioned for directly imparting rotary motion to said fuel receptacle.

3. Producer according to claim 1, in which the bottom of said fuel receptacle is provided with scraper means on the lower surface thereof positioned for loosening caked surface layer or fuel in said combustion zone.

4. Gas producer according to claim 1, includmg means positioned for feeding fuel to said receptacle adjacent the peripheral portion thereof.

5. Gas producer according to claim 1, in which said rotatable shaft shaft.

6. Gas producer according to claim 5, in which said shaft is mounted for rotation in two end bearings.

OTTO HUBMANN.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 7 617,523 Day Jan. 10, 1899 1,177,584 Wallman Mar. 28, 1916 1,243,822 Drefifein Oct. 23, 1917 2,147,324 Van Ackerson Feb. 14, 1939 2,289,347 Daae July 14, 1942 2,381,200 Blake Aug, 7, 1945 2,431,632 Brandt Nov. 25, 1947 is a hollow fluid-cooled 

1. A GAS PRODUCER FOR THE GASIFICATION OF SOLID FUEL, WHICH COMPRISES A VERTICAL, CYCLINDRICAL SHAFT FURNACE HAVING A ROTATAOLE CENTGER SHAFT, A COMBUSTION ZONE FOR SUCH FUEL DEFINED IN SAID FURNACE WITH SAID ROTATABLE CENTER SHAFT EXTENDING THERETHROUGH, A GRATE MOUNTED FOR ROTATION WITH SAID SAHFT POSITIONED AT THE LOWER END OF THE COMBUSTION ZONE, A FUEL HOLDING RECEPTACLE POSITIONED WITHIN SAID FURNACE ABOVE SAID COMBUSTION ZONE WITH AT LEAST THE BOTTOM PORTION THEREOF CONNECTED TO SAID SHAFT FOR ROTATION THEREWITH, THE BOTTOM OF SAID RECEPTACLE DEFINING AT LEAST ONE OPENING THERETHROUGH IN SPACED RELATIONSHIP TO THE AXIS OF SAID ROTATABLE CENTER SHAFT FOR THE DISCHARGE OF FUEL, AND MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID SHAFT. 